Unlocking potential with the gift of feedback

A guest post from Wake Forest’s Professional Development Center (PDC)

When we receive gifts, many of us are told to say “thank you” and graciously accept them even when we don’t like them. For those of us who have heard “feedback is a gift,” I am sure there are times when we’d like to immediately return those “gifts” to the giver (like those ugly sweaters or useless tools that were gifts from our past).

Feedback, however, is a necessary component for us to feel valued, satisfied, and engaged at work. Feedback lets us know whether we are on track (or not) in meeting our goals. It lets us know if we are positively contributing to our work, to our colleagues, and to others at Wake Forest University.

Where feedback gets a bad wrap (pardon the pun as we stay with the theme of gifts), is in how often feedback is given, and the kind it is. Research shows about one in five people get feedback once a year. That means the only time 20% of employees get feedback is likely in their year-end review. That’s pretty sad. However, almost 40% of those polled received feedback weekly, if not daily, from their supervisor. We should strive to give (and get) feedback just as often. 

There are different kinds of feedback. Is a compliment feedback? Yes. Who doesn’t love to hear, “You did a great job on the presentation today.” But, more valuable feedback would be to hear why it was a good job: Was it my slides and the visual content? Was it my eye contact and my tone of voice? The way I handled the Q&A afterward? Being specific adds value to the feedback. It also works for “negative” or more constructive feedback, too. Being told you did a bad job is one thing. But being given the feedback about what exactly it was that led to that negative feedback, and more importantly, having a conversation around what can be done to fix it so it does not happen again, is more valuable.

If you’d like to improve in feedback, here are some options and action steps.

• Enroll in the PDC In Person or Live Online class on “Enhancing your Feedback Skills” where you will learn a framework for providing feedback, explore how to ask for more feedback from others in an authentic way, practice feedback with others, and receive tips on giving more effective feedback and being able to receive feedback too.
• Specifically for people managers/supervisors, enroll in the PDC In Person class on “Building a Feedback Culture” where we go beyond giving and receiving feedback, and go deeper into how you as a leader can build a feedback culture within your team, unit, or department through coaching, psychological safety, trust, after action reviews, stay conversations, and more.
• Go to Workday Learning and take on-demand courses like this one on giving and receiving feedback. Short on time? In less than 15 minutes, you can get nano tips on feedback, or look at this micro-lesson on performance feedback that can be useful too.
• Stop using the dreaded “feedback sandwich” in your feedback repertoire. It’s just not helpful (and it tastes horrible too).

Feedback doesn’t have to be the gift you want to return. Feedback can be the gift that keeps on giving if done effectively.

Continue your professional development with the PDC:
Visit us online at pdc.wfu.edu
Register for our classes through Workday Learning
Follow the PDC on Instagram @wfutalent

Or, contact our professional staff:
William (Bill) Gentry – Director of the PDC and Learning & Development
Missy Campbell – Manager, Learning & Development
Melissa Clodfelter – Assistant Vice President, Faculty & Staff Experience